Help Me With My Gay?
by gaypanic
Summary: Beca realizes how she really feels about Chloe, but needs to talk to Jesse and break it off with him before she can act on her emotions. As it turns out, Jesse needs to talk to her too, about a similar issue. Bechloe with scattered crack ships
1. The Realization

**A/N: Hey aca nerds. so I meantioned I was writing this on my tumblr, as a oneshot, but this will be a chapter fic. because A) I want to see how it's received and B) i have two equally great ideas on continuing but would like your opinion? anyway, I hope you guys like it :)  
**

 **I do not own Pitch Perfect**

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She realizes that she's in love with her best friend while riding on a bus.

The retreat had been exhausting, helpful, and overall a little weird. If you had asked Beca Mitchell about Chloe _before_ the retreat, she would have talked about how she was her best friend, who cared more about a cappella than any person should, but it was okay because she had a beautiful smile and really _really_ red hair that everyone loved. If someone were to ask her now, well, she would probably stutter her way through some "uhs" and "ums" before changing the subject.

It wasn't weird until that night in the tent where Chloe dropped her experimentation hint, which Beca immediately avoided and ultimately denied to herself - because how crazy is that? - until an hour later when Beca found herself face to face with a sleeping Chloe, and the comment echoed through her ears, bounced around in her memories, and shook up everything Beca had ever thought about Chloe, shook up every interaction they've ever had. Beca didn't know what it meant; she just knew everything was different, and when she woke up the next morning with one of her hands tangled into Chloe's hair, she considered that this whole mess warranted an exploration and maybe, eventually, an explanation..

Her first thoughts revolved around blaming Chloe. It was her comment that stirred everything up, after all, but if being caught in that bear trap taught Beca anything, it was that most things with Chloe are her own fault because all Chloe wants is for Beca to be happy because she's so kind and selfless and, well, perfect. But Beca already knew that; hell, everyone knew that, but something about it felt more significant somehow and looking into Chloe's eyes across the campfire secured that significance somehow and looking at Chloe's face in the tent that night made falling asleep easier somehow. It wasn't until the next day on the bus ride home that she would find out _exactly_ how.

After saying goodbye to Aubrey, Beca is the first on the bus, headphones on and car charger ready to go, and she's already listening to music, feigning sleep when Chloe climbs on the bus ten minutes later. Beca is entirely aware that no one has sat next to her as usual, but this time she wonders if it is because 'next to Beca' is Chloe's reserved spot. Why this has never occurred to Beca is beyond her.

Chloe sinks into the seat next to Beca, and despite Beca's eyes being closed, she knows that Chloe is smiling at her. Her suspicions are confirmed when she feels her headphones slide off her ears and fall into place around her neck causing her eyes to shoot open and become locked with Chloe's. "What d'ya want, Beale?"

"I'm bored, and I know you weren't actually sleeping." Chloe grins at Beca, who only groans and rolls her head to the side in response but jumps when she feels Chloe poke her in the side. "You're just being laaazzyyyy."

"Quit poking me, Chlo. Just because you know I'm ticklish doesn't mean the rest of these punks have to. Don't take advantage."

"Hmmm or what? You'll tickle me back?" That look is in Chloe's eyes. That look that Beca saw when she talked about experimenting. That look she saw across the campfire. That look that she sees every time she closes her eyes and tries to figure out exactly what that look means or why it strikes not just a chord in Beca but a whole orchestra.

She must have taken too long to answer because when she snaps back to reality, Chloe is making herself comfortable next to Beca, pulling out a blanket from her bag. "Ha, yeah you wish."

Chloe grins just inches from her face, making Beca look away to avoid _that look_ in her eyes. "You know I do. Now move your headphones. They're in my snuggle space."

She goes to move them from around Beca's neck herself, but Beca beats her to it. "Woah, woah, woah, Chlo. You're great, but our relationship has not reached the level of 'headphone handling' just yet."

"Mmm. Okay, Becs, we'll just have to see about that," Chloe says with a wink as she nuzzles into Beca's neck, resting her head on Beca's shoulder. "But for now, naptime."

Beca groans. "But you were juuussstt making fun of me for napping."

"That doesn't count, Beca, you were faking it." Beca can feel Chloe smiling into her. She'd be lying if she said she wasn't smiling back.

"No, it totally counts. Maybe I actually was planning on sleeping, and then you came and ruined it." When Chloe doesn't respond, Beca groans again. "Seeeeee, you're faking it now. You're only making my point more valid." More silence. "Okay whatever, you win _this_ time. G'night Chlo, have a good nap."

"Love you, Becs."

Beca feels her heart flip, hears her breath hitch, and she hopes Chloe doesn't notice. It occurs to Beca that she might already have the answer to why everything seems different, hidden here in her own heartbeat, but it's just out of reach, so instead she takes a deep breath and lets herself relax. All in good time, she supposes.

She checks her phone, a good excuse for an unnecessary distraction, and has nine new messages.

 _Jesse_ [9:23]: bec. hey. when r u getting back ?

 _Jesse_ [9:36]: let me know when u leave ok?

 _Jesse_ [9:37]: i could just ask benji, i bet he knows

 _Jesse_ [9:37]: sorry to bother u

 _Jesse_ [9:51]: benji doesnt kno and he thinks its weird tht i thought he'd know

 _Jesse_ [9:51]: he and em are a thing arent they?

 _Jesse_ [9:52]: sry thats irrelevant. text me ok?

 _Jesse_ [10:28]: beca are u getting my txts? sry. its just important.

 _Jesse_ [10:35]: we need to talk

Beca's heart immediately begins flipping in the opposite direction at the words "we need to talk." But at the same time, she isn't worried.

 _Beca_ [10:53]: hey jesse sorry, i just got your messages. we left about 15 minutes ago. everything ok?

Jesse [10:54]: yeah sry. can we talk when u get back?

 _Beca_ [10:54]: sure, lunch?

 _Jesse_ [10:55]: sounds good. txt me

Beca tosses her phone into her bag, wondering but not caring about what Jesse needs to talk about. She probably should care. She probably should be worried. With all the movie watching Jesse put her through, Beca knows that the words "we need to talk" from one significant other to another usually leads to a less than positive situation. Beca knows this, but she doesn't care and she doesn't know why.

As if giving her the answer, Chloe shifts on her shoulder. Beca's thoughts return to Chloe's eyes when they burn into hers. Do her own eyes burn back? Does she want them to burn back? The thought makes her heart beat a little faster than it did before, and she suddenly realizes that Chloe's pulse point is pressed into her arm, finding its way there after Chloe had hugged Beca's arm like a teddy bear she needed in order to fall asleep. Her pulse is smooth and steady, unlike Beca's hastening and erratic pulse growing the more she thinks about Chloe and growing the more she realizes she thinks about Chloe. Does Chloe's heart beat like this when she thinks about Beca? Does she want Chloe's heart to beat like this when she thinks about Beca? Does she want Chloe to think about her? Obviously, because they're friends and Beca matters, but this is different. Why is this different? The answer flitters back up again, but Beca instinctively tries to choke it down.

This plan is foiled when Stacie goes from silently humming her music to singing it out loud, just loud enough for Beca to pick up on the words, leaving the idea hitting her all at once -

" _-how to brave, how can i love_

 _when I'm afraid to fall,_

 _but watching you stand alone,_

 _all of my doubt suddenly goes away somehow,_

 _one step closer -"_

Beca becomes so overwhelmed by the realization that she doesn't have time to scoff at how cliche the song is for this moment. Everything occurs to her at once, all the memories of Chloe flooding back in their new light, only this time they aren't hidden behind a fog of Beca's own confusion and denial, rather, they are brighter than they have ever been. She imagines Chloe's eyes, Chloe's smile, Chloe's smell, Chloe's dorky laugh, Chloe's face when she gets angry that only ends up making Beca laugh and making Chloe pout, the way Chloe's skin feels when it brushes against Beca's, the way Chloe's voice can sometimes make Beca's heart skip a beat. It all appears all at once, and before Stacie can sing the next line, Beca is trying to stand. "Stop the bus! Stop! I have to- I have to get out."

"Wha? Becs?" Chloe's voice makes Beca jump.

"Stop the bus. Just- okay? Sorry to wake you up Chlo, just- uh, hold on. I have to-" Beca motions towards the door of the bus, now rolling to a stop on the side of the road. Avoiding Chloe's eyes, she moves as fast out the door as she can without actually running and begins pacing the length of the bus, her feet moving faster each time. "Oh god, oh god, oh god, oh god, oh my god, oh my god…"

"Beca, what the hell?"

"Are you okay?"

"Did Aubrey give you food poisoning? Are you going to make like Aubrey and vomit?"

"Amy, shut it, that's not funny!"

"Guys please shut up, okay? I just needed some air," Beca says, stopping to put her hands on her knees. She keeps her head down, eyes closed. "Oh my god, this isn't real. I can't breathe. I'm such an idiot. Oh god, oh god."

There are a couple of minutes of silence before Beca feels circles being rubbed on her back by a hand that she knows belongs to Chloe. "Shh, Becs. Whatever it is, it'll be okay." Beca lets Chloe continue to rub her back, the feeling leaving goosebumps all down her arms and on the back of her neck. She closes her eyes, imagining the possibility of "okay" where Chloe just knows, where Chloe just reciprocates, the only possibility Beca is really interested in. She shakes her head to get the idea out; she should be so lucky. But she takes a deep breath and instead of finding escape, the realization swallows her whole. She's in love with her best friend.

Slowly, Beca stands to face Chloe. Trying to remain calm, her eyes lock with Chloe's and she feels herself unravel, but she tries not to let it show. She wonders what her eyes look like as they stare into Chloe's endless gaze, full of soft comfort and bright reassurance. She imagines they are full of fear, not the horrified kind but the jittery nervous kind, like they might look at the top of a roller coaster or going on a hike and seeing a bear at a distance. Chloe smiles at her as if aiming to ease Beca, but Beca only sinks further, falling more into the realization than she even thought possible. These feelings wouldn't go away even if Beca tried.

"Chloe. I'm so screwed."

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 **A/N 2: what do you guys think? let me know by reviewing or leaving me a message on my tumblr .com**

 **question: should i continue and alternate perspectives between Beca and Chloe, or should I just stick with Beca? (also, Jesse's part in this won't be a needy boyfriend type, don't worry. I have big plans for him ;) )**


	2. The Avoidance

**A/N: Thank you so much for all the reviews, favorites, and follows! You guys are the best :) I hope this chapter meets your expectations!**

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Back on the bus, Beca sits straight up, takes intentional and steady breaths, and tries to ignore Chloe's eyes on her, Chloe's hand on hers, Chloe's thumbs tracing more circles on her skin. She can see the rest of the Bellas making quick glances at her, worried that she'll have another freakout moment. It's too quiet on the bus but too loud in Beca's mind as she tries to think about other things.

 _School. I have a test this Wednesday and a paper due next weekend and Chloe has a paper due for Russian Lit and I have another paper for - dammit!_

 _Okay, school. Again. My paper is for history and I have to write about Stalin and Russia. Oh yeah, Chloe's paper is on literature and history so I'll just ask her abo - ah fuck me._

 _Not school. Work. Uhhhh water skis on dry land? Is Snoop coming back in? Um, Margie likes vanilla lattes and Scott likes iced coffee with no cream, Matt likes caramel frappes, Beth likes Chai Tea, oh, and Chloe likes Chai Tea too! Ohmygod, Beca, get your shit together._

Beca takes a deep breath and glances at Chloe, listening to music through her earbuds, humming along, but looking right at Beca as if worried she's going to spill over and run for it again. When they make eye contact, Chloe tosses in a smile before Beca can look away, which she does, and at record speed too. "Hey." Chloe's voice makes her jump again, despite how soothing it is, and she looks at her out of the corner of her eye, still sitting straight up, as though afraid that moving will make her feelings fall out of balance again.

"Uh, yeah?" Chloe giggles at Beca's voice cracking, so Beca clears her throat, and tries way too hard to look less stiff and more comfortable in her seat. She looks back at Chloe and tries again. "What?"

"Are you okay? You seem really tense." Beca stiffens even more, knowing what's coming. _No, Chloe, don't do it. Don't ask me. Don't you do it._ "Do you need a backrub?" Chloe's hands are already on her, grazing the back of her neck, feeling their way around her shoulders, moving a little too slow and a little too softly, and Beca feels like her heart's on fire. She's pretty sure that if Chloe does not stop touching her, she will actually implode into a fit of squeals, giggles, and passionate (and probably inappropriate) touching, all very anti-Beca actions.

Beca leaps out of her seat, causing the rest of the Bellas to jump. "No!" Noticing that everyone is staring at her, she quiets down, "uhm, Chloe. No. I'm sorry. I'm fine. I'm all good" She slowly sinks into her seat as far as she can away from Chloe, which leaves her accidentally half-sitting on Legacy's lap.

"Hey!" Beca jumps back up, completely shocked. Giving Em an apologetic smile, she scoots back where she was next to Chloe, far too close to Chloe, who is looking at her with the most alarmed look she's ever seen. Beca is slightly freaked at the look in Chloe's eyes, a mix of concern and annoyance.

Not sure how to react, Beca slowly stands back up, keeping her eyes locked with Chloe's. "I'm just gonna… uh, I'll be over- be right back." Beca shuffles her way up to the front of the bus, avoiding the gazes of the other Bellas as she passes them. "Uh, hey Ashley."

"Yeah, Beca? What's up? You okay?"

"Ahhh… yes." Beca clears her throat, worried that her voice would betray her again. "I was just wondering," she starts to ask, dragging out her syllables, "how much longer, exactly, until we get back?"

"Mmmmm… about fifteen-ish minutes? If I had to be more exact, I might say sixteen minutes?" Ashley glances at Beca. "That's good, yeah?"

Beca nods slowly. "Yes. Thank you. I'll, uh, I'll go back to my seat now."

Ashley chuckles at her weird behaviour. "You sure you're okay, cap?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. I'm totally fine. I'm cool as a cucumber. Wow did I just say that?" Beca begins retreating to her seat, and she sees Chloe still softly glaring at her with that same expression. The fact that Chloe can "glare softly" further proves Chloe's perfection through and makes Beca even more screwed. She turns back to Ashley. "Oh. And, uh, thanks Ashley."

"You're welcome!"

"And… I'm sorry about that thing at the retreat. You know, about how I don't know which of you is which. It's just, uh, you know. It's uh-"

Ashley laughs, "No Beca, it's okay. I get it. We're basically the same person, or, we're close enough to be, anyway."

"Ha, yeah. Maybe we'll all just start calling you both Jashley. Right?" Beca laughs half-heartedly.

"Yeah! No, I love that! Hey, Jess, hear that? We're both Jashley now."

Jessica winks, "Yeah we are."

"Uhh… okayyy." Beca blinks a few times, processing the interaction. _Are you guys dating, or…?_ But she doesn't ask.

"Oh, you know who would love this! Amy! You know, we're Jashley, like you and Chloe are Bhloe! Well, not exactly, but close enough right? Unless there's something you're not telling us." Ashley glances back to wink at Beca, who is now _really_ glad she didn't ask so she can pretend like they aren't dating and having Chloe and her compared to them is totally normal.

"Uh, I should sit down. This isn't safe." Beca nods awkwardly, "Yeah."

She turns back, whimpering softly as she meets Chloe's eyes again, but puts on a smile to look like nothing is weird. Chloe doesn't seem to buy it, and neither does Amy, because when Beca walks by she says, "Oh hold up there, short stack. Let me pull this stick from your bum so you'll look more comfortable," and mimes pulling a stick out of Beca's butt.

"Amy! Really? Why am I friends with you again?"

"Cos you love me. You can't deny this hot mess. Now move along so Bhloe can be reunited." Amy smacks her on the ass to get her moving, and Beca groans, both at Amy and at Chloe's glare, but Chloe doesn't need to know that.

Beca plops into her seat, pulls out her phone and sends a text to Jesse.

 _Beca_ [12:10]: less than 15 min away

Beca holds her gaze forward, barely ignoring Chloe who has eyes of steel or something. She hears Chloe clear her throat. "Hey Beca?"

 _Oh god. Here it comes_. "Yeah, Chlo?"

"Hmmm. Never mind." Chloe leans back in her seat as if nothing had just happened.

"Wait what?" Nothing. "Chloe?" Still Nothing. "Dude! Chloe, what the hell?"

"I could ask you the same thing, Beca!" Chloe snaps at her in a perfect whisper-yell.

Beca freezes, not confused at all by Chloe's reaction to whatever has happened on the bus ride but trying to let Chloe believe she is completely thrown by the reaction. Beca's aware that her avoidance makes her look like an asshole, and not in the normal Beca-is-an-asshole way. Chloe doesn't deserve it, but it's this or the alternative, an option that Beca doesn't fully comprehend but assumes deals with emotions. Lots of them. She figures that playing innocent asshole is the least painful option for both of them.

Doing everything in her power not to let Chloe see right through her as she _always_ seems to do, Beca does her best to communicate with the frazzled redhead. "Uhmm…I don't- I don't know what you mean." Chloe arches her eyebrow, totally unconvinced. Beca sighs, "Okay Chloe, here's the thing…" Beca glances out the window, realizing that there is only a minute or two until they get back to the Bellas house. "This might sound crazy, but I - uh…had alcohol earlier. Yeah. I had alcohol. Before noon, I know. It's crazy. I had alcohol that Fat Amy stole from Aubrey's secret minibar and I might have had too much which is why I needed air and also why I'm acting so weird and stuff, so, I'm sorry?"

Chloe's face is unfazed as she stares into Beca's I-hope-she-buys-this grin, and Beca isn't worried until she watches that unfazed stare become a smirk. "Is that the best you got, Mitchell?" Chloe may be amused by her sorry excuse, but Beca knows that deep down, she's livid.

The bus rolls into the driveway, and Beca is on her feet. "Sorry, Chlo. We'll talk later," she says in a rush as she moves to run off the bus.

"Oh, no you don't," Chloe says, catching her arm.

Beca groans. "Look, I promise you we will talk later, but right now I have somewhere to be." She suppresses extreme guilt as she takes advantage of Chloe's soft side. "Jesse and I are having some problems. He texted me saying "we need to talk" and it really doesn't look good, but I have to go. We're having lunch." Chloe's face immediately softens. The visible amount of care Chloe has for Beca beams out, making Beca feel awful for the whole bus ride. She practically initiates the hug she and Chloe are suddenly in.

"Oh my god, Becs, you should have said something. Let me know when you're back and we can hang out, okay?" Chloe beams at Beca, an undeserving smile, and Beca smiles back, feeling that it's not really enough. But it can't be. Not yet.

"Thanks, Chlo. I'll see you later." She pulls away, hands lingering on Chloe's shoulders, eyes flickering down to Chloe's lips and staying there a little too long. Beca tries to play off the glance like there was a bug flying through them, swatting animatedly at the air. "Uh, yeah, I think I got it. I'm just gonna…" Beca moves towards the door, waving at the other Bellas on her way out.

She can hear Chloe's unconvinced laugh as she's about to step off the bus. "Hey Becs, watch out for bugs!" Beca glances over in time to catch an infamous Chloe Beale wink and that look in Chloe's eyes. She gives Chloe an infamous Beca Mitchell eye-roll before stepping off the bus and walking down the sidewalk.

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Beca and Jesse always go to this burger restaurant just outside of the Barden campus. Beca wouldn't call it _their place_ or anything, Jesse probably would, but this is where they're meeting up for lunch.

She's not really sure what to expect from this conversation. Jesse has something big to talk about, and this could be anything. It could be about work or school or her or them. Anything. But then, Beca realizes something. This could be about _anything_. And she just told Chloe that they were having problems. Even though, that's not completely true. However, regardless of what Jesse tells her, she also needs to talk to him. About Chloe. Or, maybe not about Chloe, but about Beca's weird shifting feelings that do involve Jesse whether she wants them to or not..

It's all too much. She can't just break up with her boyfriend of almost three years over a crush on her best friend, she can't expect Jesse to be so cool about it if she did, and she certainly can't expect Chloe to feel the same way about her and/or jump her bones the second she finds out she's single.

Approaching the restaurant, Beca decides not to tell Jesse anything. She'll hear whatever he has to say, talk about whatever he needs to talk about, and then move on, play it all by ear. She steps into the restaurant where Jesse is already waiting for her. He grins his goofy grin and waves at her when she walks in. He stands to hug her. They sit down. They do not kiss.

"Beca! Hey. How was the retreat?"

"You know, it was...outdoors. It was nice seeing Aubrey again though. She's really suited for running that place. Maybe a little too much." Beca laughs and looks at Jesse, who seems sad and excited at the same time. "Yeah, um. You know you always had that theory about Stacie and Aubrey? Well, yeah, I think that they might actually be a thing. Or might be becoming a thing. I don't know. Aubrey gave Stacie all these special privileges like being able to use the lodge toilets at night and being able to use Aubrey's shower cause it has better water pressure and hot water, and you know, because it has Aubrey."

Jesse chuckles, but it's obvious he isn't all there. "Yeah, they're really cute. They used to hold hands at all the Trebles/Bellas joint movie nights."

"What?! You never told me that!"

"Oh. Yeah, I always thought you knew. Benji even caught them making out backstage before one of your performances. You know, junior year ICCAs, when Aubrey visited as the Bellas' number one fan?"

"Jesse! You're the worst! You need to start telling me things! What else did I miss?"

Jesse shrugs apologetically, "Actually, the one single thing you're missing from all the information I have in my head is the reason we are sitting at this table right now."

"Uhh, okay." Beca bites the inside of her cheeks, not sure where this is going. She wonders if he knows about Chloe already, what with his mad observation skills and counterintuitiveness. She decides again not to tell him. Going along with the situation still seems like the best plan. "Actually, I have something I wanna tell you too." _Dammit, Beca, what are you doing?_

"Oh! Well, that's good then. We can be we-need-to-talk buddies. Tell me that isn't the most anxiety inducing sentence in the entire English language."

"That isn't the most anxiety inducing sentence in the entire English language," Beca deadpans.

Jesse blinks, shaking his head slowly. "You are unbelievable." Beca rolls her eyes with a smirk, which he returns before continuing. "So what did you wanna talk about?"

"No way, dude! You started this whole thing. You tell me first," Beca says, hoping to push her own news out of the picture.

"Ugh, fine. Okay here's an idea. We both talk at once." Beca opens her mouth to protest. "No, I know, I know. It's so cliche. But hear me out. We both have things to tell each other that neither one of us particularly wants to talk about, so, saying them at once will relieve us of possible shame or embarrassment in any way. Sound good?"

"Yeah, but how do you know I don't wanna talk about mine?"

"You're Beca Effin' Mitchell. Queen of the I'm-not-telling-so-fuck-off kingdom."

"Hey! I resent that!" Beca points at him and does her best to look offended. "Even though it's basically true."

"Yeah, see. You see my point. Now, stop avoiding it. We doing this or what?"

Beca rolls her eyes again and nods. She really doesn't want to do this. Whatever Jesse's fun fact is, there's no way that it could be on par with Beca's breaking news. She knows that if she actually tells him, their relationship could be over, but if she doesn't tell him, it's going to eat her up alive, she's going to fall more for Chloe, and she's not going to be able to do a damn thing about it because of Jesse. She decides she'll tell him and go with the flow of that conversation. Same concept, right? "Okay, on the count of three, we tell each other whatever it is we have to say. We'll sort it all out after. You ready?" Beca nods again, not breaking eye contact with Jesse. "Okay. One, two, three…"

"I think I'm in love with my best friend."

"I think I'm in love with my best friend."

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 **A/N: ohhh shit ;) yeah, that just happened. Feel free to leave a review with any thoughts/questions/comments/suggestions or send me a message on tumblr about it! .com :) stay awesome!**


	3. The Explanation (or, The Fuck-Up)

**A/N: GUYS. I love you all for following this story and favoriting it, and all the reviews and everything. You are all aca-awesome. Heads up, this chapter has some angst.**

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"I think I'm in love with my best friend."

"I think I'm in love with my best friend."

"What?"

"Wait what?"

"Um. Okay, well, I guess I'm glad I said something? I almost didn't," Beca admits. A large part of Beca had hoped that her confession would be lost in the confusion of whatever Jesse said, but that obviously did not happen. She was so worried about her feelings for Chloe that she'd hardly cared about whatever Jesse was going to say, but in hindsight, she's almost relieved that it isn't something that makes her own life more difficult. Additionally, she's relieved because she has someone that understands. Although, she's a little freaked out that it's Jesse.

Jesse's laughter pulls Beca from her thoughts. "I don't believe this! How crazy is it that we have the same situation happening! This is great, Becs! We can help each other with our gay!"

Beca rolls her eyes. "Jesse, that's not even a thing. And I'm not going to do anything anytime soon, okay?" A moment of silence stirs between them for a few moments. Beca can tell Jesse wants to ask, so before he can, she continues. "So, I'm guessing you're talking about Benji? Where did that even come from? I thought you were straight as a...I don't know. A really straight thing. Like a pole! Uh, no that's weird. A pencil? Ah fuck it. I'm just really surprised? is what I'm getting at."

"Me too! About you, I mean, I knew you and Chloe were close, but-"

"Woah, woah. How do you know this is about Chloe?"

"Beca, you said 'best friend.' Who else would it be?"

Beca half sighs, half groans. Who else would it be? Nobody. It could and would always be Chloe. "Okay, okay, I know. Listen, Jess, I only _just_ came to terms with this. And by 'came to terms' I mean that I only just figured it out. I had a panic attack on the bus. Had to make Ashley stop it and everything." Jesse gasps, looking concerned, but Beca continues, "I _really_ hate sharing all this information when I expected to share nothing, okay? And it is _crucial_ that you do not say a word to anyone about this. Okay?" Beca stares Jesse down until he answers.

"Yeah, okay Becs, I get it."

"Good. Now tell me abou-"

"Just one question."

"Oh my god, Jesse, what?"

"Why are you acting like this is some top secret mission? Like the kind with the secret stuff stored in safety deposit boxes and bodyguards who track down anyone who knows just to make sure they don't spill the beans?" Jesse looks at her incredulously. "It's just, Chloe, Beca."

But it isn't; _Just Chloe_ doesn't exist. Beca avoids his gaze and his questions, knowingly biding time because there's no way he'll let her drop this. "If I answer your questions, will you please talk about you and Benji instead?"

"What? Beca that makes no sense. How about this: you answer my questions as half-assed as you please, I will tell you about Benji, and then we can move on to whatever else. And I'll be here waiting whenever you wanna talk about it. Sound good?"

It did sound good. "Alright, fine. I'm acting like it's so top secret or whatever because it kind of is. Nobody knows but you and me, and I'd like to keep it that way. I don't want to go around making Chloe's life more complicated, and I certainly don't want to lose my best friend. I just want things going back to normal."

Jesse's eyes widen as he looks down. "Alright. Well, I have a lot of things I wanna say to that, but I won't, because I respect your privacy." "Beca sighs and rolls her eyes at him. "If you want me to say them, at any point in time, let me know. And I will say them." Jesse pauses a moment just in case Beca changes her mind.

"Okay, look, you can say whatever you want to me about it. But you promised to talk about Benji next, so.." Beca waves her hand, motioning for him to continue.

Jesse takes a deep breath, obviously trying to suppress a bigger smile than the one he's already wearing, and begins to talk, "This has been going on for a while now. The questioning my sexuality and the finding feelings for Benji in unexpected places, I mean. I've been so worried about talking to you about it, cause I figured you'd be upset with me or you might think it was weird. You know, big movie buff falling out of the classic John Hughes love story and into one that most people wouldn't approve of because even when a character is bisexual, everyone has to pretend they're straight because that's what's canon in movies, even though there's no reason why two guys or two girls who are friends to just be together! I mean, seriously, how hard is it to-"

"Jesse! You're rambling. I agree with you, but you're rambling."

"Sorry. Where was I? Oh yeah. So, I'm bisexual. It took me a while to admit that, sadly, because of the movie thing. It's dumb, but I always wanted my life to be like a movie, you know? And movies, all the best romcoms, are all about a guy and a girl. So when I fell for this guy, Mark, in high school, I denied it entirely. I suppressed it until there was nothing left, but then, Benji. It was really actually didn't hit me fully until a couple of weeks ago."

Beca nods, processing everything Jesse was saying. "So, was it like, really sudden when everything fell into place, but like, you felt like an idiot for not realizing it sooner? And then since you've figured it out, it's all been a bunch of painful anxiety?"

Chuckling, Jesse shrugs, "I mean yeah, definitely the first part. As for the painful anxiety, well, it fluctuates. Sometimes it's unbearable, but sometimes it's the easiest thing in the world. You'll see."

"Hey, I never said I was dealing with any painful anxiety. You just assumed I was."

"But aren't you?"

Beca is, and she knows it. Jesse knows it too, and she knows that Jesse knows it. If any of the Bellas had any suspicions about 'Bhloe,' they definitely know it too after the way Beca was acting on the bus. As long as Chloe didn't know it. Right? "Do you think Benji knows?"

Jesse sighs. "I honestly don't know. He knows me better than anyone, almost as much as you, and you didn't know right?"

"Nope."

"Then he probably doesn't. Are you worried that Chloe knows? Or the other Bellas?"

Beca hesitates, "I don't want this to sound douchey, but-"

"-but Chloe knows you better than me. I got it, Becs. And because of that, there's a good possibility she can tell or something. I didn't see it, but Chloe could. I understand."

Tossing her head back, Beca groans, "Oh my god, this is so unfair. I never wanted this! I have no clue how to handle this, and I don't want to be getting all emotional about a little crush!" Beca looks at Jesse, who blinks at her unconvinced. "Okay, yeah. I know. This is bigger than that. I don't want to talk about it anymore."

Jesse nods, "Okay. We don't have to."

A long moment of silence lingers before Beca speaks up again. "Are you gonna talk to him?"

"I think I am," Jesse says as he lets out a breath. He sounds relieved, but Beca can hear the shakiness in his voice. He nods one too many times before he wavers ever so slightly. In the three years that Beca has known him, Jesse faltered in confidence maybe twice: the first time he and Beca were intimate together and the night before Luke left him the keys to the radio station when he wasn't sure Luke would leave him in charge. This time is different though, and Beca knows this wavering is only momentary. There's a fire in his eyes that Beca knows will overpower his doubts. They won't be there for much longer. "Yes. Yes, I'm gonna do it." He looks at Beca with one more firm nod before leaping up.

Beca grins at him. "Good luck. Hey, after this, you can make a movie about it!"

He winks back at her, "Only if you star in it as yourself! Under an alter ego, of course."

Beca laughs, "Whatever. Go get him, champ."

"Are you going to be okay? We'll talk later. I promise. Text me, okay?"

"Yeah yeah, I'll be fine. Go."

It isn't until Jesse leaves that Beca realizes she's supposed to talk to Chloe about this conversation.

* * *

Beca opens the door to the Bella house slowly, hoping that she can disappear up to her room and avoid talking to Chloe, at least for a few more hours. Some time to think would be nice right about now, but when she closes the door softly behind her and turns around, she's pulled into a hug, bright red hair in her face as Beca hugs back, an immediate reaction. The hug lasts longer than normal - like Chloe doesn't want to let her go, and Beca wonders if that's what's happening for a moment before Chloe slowly pulls back, her arms lingering on her shoulders, still remaining close.

Her face reads serious as she examines Beca closely, looking for a sign that she is or isn't okay, looking for some way to read Beca to give her what she needs. Beca knows Chloe, and she knows this is what she's doing. She wonders what Chloe will find. She might find Beca's anxiety from earlier, or her longing for another Chloe Beale hug, or her sad relief from whatever just happened with Jesse, or the way Beca's eyes keep flickering down to Chloe's lips (without her own permission she might add), or the way Beca gets dizzy after staring into Chloe's eyes too long. She could find anything.

Chloe's eyes are squinted slightly, like she isn't sure what she sees, as she searches Beca's face. It could be the dizziness she's experiencing from Chloe's proximity to her or Chloe's hands on her skin or Chloe's eyes on her, but Beca swears she notices Chloe's eyes shift to Beca's lips and linger there, almost as though she's zoned out. The lip stare lasts long enough that Beca wonders if she should just go for it, and she leans in ever so slightly. She's just registering what's about to happen when Chloe seems to snap out of it, looking back to Beca's eyes with her own flaming blue ones, and making Beca jump. Chloe jumps in reaction to Beca. "Sorry," Beca mumbles, half-assing a smile.

"Hey," Chloe says as she brushes Beca's hair behind her ear. "You're fine." She smiles softly at Beca, who looks back at her, wondering if Chloe even knows what she was apologizing for. "You wanna talk about it?"

Beca's eyebrows knit together. She replies without thinking. "Sure. That'd be nice."

Chloe's arm loops around Beca's as she leads her to the empty living room and pulls her down on the couch next to her. Chloe turns to face Beca, who has her head back, staring at the ceiling, and holds her hand. Beca holds it back.

She can feel Chloe's eyes on her, waiting for her to speak. She opens her mouth but doesn't know where to begin. Everything she could possibly say to Chloe is too much, and she would figure it out.

When Beca has opened and closed her mouth several times, Chloe speaks instead. "Did you and Jesse break up?" The question is so normal for the situation. She told her there were problems, she told her she was going to talk to Jesse, and she comes back looking like there's a problem. She should expect this question, but for some reason it shocks her. It could have to do with the way Chloe's asking, she sounds too optimistic about it, but Beca chalks it up to Chloe being Chloe. It probably has to do with the fact that she and Jesse never actually talked about that. It was a given that they broke up, but the words were never said.

Clearing her throat, Beca says, "Uh, yeah, I guess we did."

A look of confusion flashes across Chloe's face, and then a look of thought, and then a look of confusion, another look of thought, and it goes on like this for a while. Beca is about to say something when Chloe asks, "You guess?"

Beca swears she can feel her heart stop for all of two seconds. Why did she have to be so bad at communication? "Well, we never actually talked about breaking up. We just sort of did?"

Chloe is trying. Beca can tell, Chloe is really trying to just accept what Beca is telling her, but Beca knows she won't because first, it actually makes no sense, and second, because Chloe doesn't just let things slide. She always wants to get it right, to really understand.

Before Chloe can speak, Beca cuts back in. She'll totally fix this. "See, it's kind of complicated. Um. I mean it's actually simple, like, we're both moving in separate yet eerily similar situations, and it's just a really mutual thing. It kind of went without saying."

She can actually see Chloe becoming more confused. The intervals of confused-face and thought-face have stopped, leaving Chloe shaking her head utterly lost. "I don't get it."

Chloe is looking at her again, intensely, and Beca forgets how to think, a habit she has been unsuccessful at breaking thus far. She feels her mouth start to run but has already lost the ability to shut it up. This whole thing is basically an out-of-body experience at this point. "Okay look, you can't tell anyone about this Chloe because I promised Jesse. Well, no, actually I didn't but- whatever. That was implied too. Anyway, Jesse is in love with Benji-"

"What?!"

"Shh, yeah, I know. It's crazy. So anyway, Jesse loves Benji and is like, going to tell him, so you know, they'll probably work out which mea-"

"Beca, stop."

The look in Chloe's eyes is unreadable. But Beca blames it on the fact that all she can see is beautiful. "What?"

"Where does this leave you? How is this similar?"

"Similar? I don't-"

"Beca. You said you were in 'separate yet eerily similar situations.'"

Beca's eyes widen. "Shit, yeah. I did say that didn't I."

"Yeah. What were you talking about?"

All Beca can imagine is that Chloe has caught on to the 'in love with someone else' thing. She doesn't have to know that Beca's in love with _her_. Chloe's reaction is so aggressively curious that Beca almost fears Chloe finding anything out because if the confusion in her eyes has almost entirely dissipated, which it has, she's probably come up with a theory. If she's come up with a theory, Beca knows that it's right, because Chloe is a champ at that. She's better at predicting movies than her, hell, she's even better than Jesse. Beca's mind is still disconnected from her mouth, which decides to take matters into its own hands. "I'm in love with Aubrey."

The words come out so fast that she's not even sure she said them.

Chloe's laugh is so loud that she's not even sure it's real.

It is real. "I'm sorry, Bec, I misheard you. You said you're _in love_ with _Aubrey_?" Her laughing continues, and Beca is surprised she is even able to stop and speak. "I can buy that Jesse is in love with Benji, but I _do not_ buy that _you_ are in love with _Aubrey_ ," Chloe says, practically crying from laughing so hard.

Beca is so stunned that all she can do is stare at Chloe, motionless and emotionless. _What is happening?_

Eventually, Chloe's laughter lets up. Eventually, she takes in Beca's lack of laughter. Eventually, the smile falls from her face. "Beca?" Beca says nothing, horrified at what is unfolding in front of her. "You were- you were serious, weren't you?" Beca has officially lost the ability to breathe. She's very sure that she's about to hyperventilate, or throw up, or both. She needs to fix this, but she can't even speak or think, and she can't wrap her head around what is going on or why or how. She feels Chloe crying long before it happens. "Ohmigod ohmigod. Beca… I am- I am so sorry. I didn't- I didn't think- ohmigod." The tears start there. Beca's brain catches up too fast as she squeezes Chloe's hand but realizes it's not there anymore. It's across the room running through the hair of its owner who is sobbing into the wall.

Beca is moving to her, pulling her into her arms, putting one hand into her hair, the other on her back, doing anything to comfort Chloe, but she gets pushed away, hard. "Beca, don't. Fucking don't." Beca catches Chloe's eyes for only a second before she turns, but it's enough to send Beca crashing to the floor.

She's seen Chloe's eyes burn bright like the stars, but this time they burn like a house fire.

She's seen Chloe's eyes shielded with protection, but this time they shoot with defensiveness.

She's seen Chloe's eyes grow into passion, but this time they melt into a desperate sorrow.

She's seen Chloe's eyes light up in trust, but this time they crumble like she had no one left.

She's seen Chloe's eyes smile, but this time they growl.

Beca hears Chloe's door slam, and it sounds like it's a million miles away. She smacks herself in the face, but does it again because once isn't enough. Twice isn't either. She considers going up to Chloe's room, but she knows she won't let her in. She considers going up to her room to cry, but she knows that won't fix anything. She considers grabbing her whisky from the kitchen and chugging it, but she knows that will just make things worse. Then it comes to her.

She pulls out her phone, punches in some numbers. It only has to ring once.

"Aubrey. I fucked up."

* * *

 **A/N: How much do you guys hate me write now? Let me know what you think in the reviews and be as mean as you please. I love heaaring from you no matter what. Or, come yell at me on tumblr. My URL is mitcheale.**


	4. The Help (or, The Fuck-Up, pt 2)

**A/N: It's been longer than I'd like it to be since I last updated, but life happens, and here's the new update :) For you AppleSwan shippers, I did what I could to make you happy with that part of this! For you Bechloe shippers, there's still high angst, so :) sorry. Enjoy!**

 **Special thanks to fellow aca-writers Awesam and everyonelovesagoodbhloe for helping me fix this chapter up! (go check out their fanfics too. They're awesome.)**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Pitch Perfect, or any other awesome thing I make reference to.**

* * *

"Aubrey. I fucked up."

"Already, Mitchell? You do realize that we saw each other, what, four hours ago?" Beca says nothing. She realizes. "What'd ya do this time?" Aubrey's voice is so casual, she's almost not sure how to talk to her.

"I- I, uh." She swallows, composing herself, realizing this is the first thing she's said since breaking Chloe. "I just need you to come here."

"Beca, really?! You were just here, and I have a job to do. Just tell me what happened and I'll give you a basic rundown of how to fix it."

"No, Aubrey, you don't understand. I fucked up. I mean, I _really_ fucked up. I can't- I mean, I- God, I'm such an idiot! I don't- I don't know-" Beca loses it. She's still on the floor where Chloe left her, and the sobs she'd been holding back for Chloe are all racing out. She thought it was hard to breathe before, but this time, she's sure it's impossible. She loses control and starts hyperventilating.

"Oh my god, Beca. Beca. Breathe. Breathe. Breathe." Aubrey keeps repeating it to her until she's finally able to pull herself together nearly five minutes later. "Beca. Are you okay? What the hell happened?" She pauses for a moment before asking, "Is Chloe okay?"

Beca shakes her head until she remembers Aubrey's on the phone and can't actually see her. Taking a deep breath, she speaks in a whisper, "Nothing is okay, Aubrey. Nothing is okay. Please, come. Please?" She's embarrassed by how broken she sounds, but she doesn't really care at the moment. She has to find a way to fix things.

"Fine. I'll be there as fast as I can." Beca can hear doors closing and Aubrey telling someone she'll be back. "Beca, listen." The sound of her car starting up fills the background. "I'm going to call Stacie and have her talk to you until I get there, okay? Just stay wherever you are, which, where are you by the way? The Bellas house?"

"Yeah, on the floor in the living room."

"Damn, this must be serious. Anyway, I'm going to call Stacie, and she'll come to sit with you. I'm assuming that this has to do with Chloe?"

Beca forces a laugh, "Hey Aubrey, you know what happens when you assume right? It makes an ass of-"

"Ha, ha, ha. Very funny, Mitchell. This is not the time for jokes, Beca. Does this or does this not have to do with Chloe?"

"Yes! Okay? Yes. This has everything to do with Chloe. Even though why you would actually assume that is beyond me…"

"No it's not." Beca snorts. "Now I'm glad you're back to sarcasm and jokes, but I need you to listen to me, okay?" Beca waits for Aubrey to continue, but she doesn't. "Okay?" she asks more aggressively.

"Okay."

"Do _not_ talk to Chloe until I get there. Okay? Even if Stacie thinks it's a good idea. Do not do it; you'll only make everything worse."

Beca snorts again. "Well, thanks for believing in me...not. Hey Aubrey, why Stacie? Is she your favorite or something? Because I think I ship-" Beca hears the phone connection break. Aubrey has hung up on her, go figure, and it isn't until she does that Beca realizes how upset she still is. Aubrey was a great distraction, but now she's left to her own thoughts again, and all she can think about is Chloe.

 _I'm in love with Aubrey? Why the fuck would I say that?_ Beca is about to lose it again when she hears the chorus of "Touch Myself" coming from the staircase. _What ...the hell?_ It's moving closer, down the stairs. Until it stops, replaced by Stacie's voice. "Hello? Oh, hey Aubrey… What? For serious?... Oh… Wait, what?!... Where am I? I'm in the living room-… No, I don't- oh! hey, Beca!... Yeah, Aubrey, hold on-...Uh, okay...okay...alright yeah I can do that-… Yes, I've got it, Bree! I heard you… Okay. Love y- I mean, see you in a couple of hours! Bye!"

Stacie stands over Beca, who has decided to hide her face between her knees. Her eyes feel swollen, and she's sure they look it too. Stacie says nothing, so Beca decides to fill the silence. "Uh, Stacie?" she asks without looking up. "Are you and Aubrey, like, together?" Beca really wants to see the look on her friend's face but doesn't risk it. Talking is a distraction. Seeing is not.

"What. You mean like dating? You know I don't 'date,' Beca."

"But the ringtone on your phone is "Low," not "Touch Myself." And Jesse said he saw you guys kissing. And I'm pretty sure you almost told her you love her just now on the ph-"

"Beca! Listen. I obvs changed my ringtone, Jesse obviously saw someone else, and I almost said "love you" out of habit from talking to my mom so much. K?" Beca shrugs, knowing that it is all bullshit.

"Yeah but-"

"No buts, Beca. Aubrey told me to talk to you or keep you distracted until she got here, so, we're going to talk."

* * *

[Meanwhile]

Jesse is pacing back and forth in the Trebles' living room, waiting for Benji to get back. He has the soundtrack of The Breakfast Club blasting out of his phone giving him the energy he needs for this. It's been an hour since he and Beca split ways, and he considers calling her to see how she's doing. He wanted to encourage her to talk to Chloe, but it's no use arguing with her. He's about to pull out his phone to text her when he hears a key turning the lock just as Don't You (Forget About Me) starts to play. Jesse fist pumps at the perfection of this real life movie moment, and begins singing as Benji steps through the door.

 _Won't you come see about me?_

 _I'll be alone, dancing you know it baby,_

 _Tell me your troubles and doubts_

 _Giving me everything inside and out and,_

 _Love's strange so real in the dark_

 _Think of the tender things that we were working on!_

 _Slow change may pull us apart_

 _When the light gets into your heart, baby!_

Benji laughs. "Jesse, what is this?" Jesse doesn't look like he's going to stop singing anytime soon, so Benji takes a seat on the couch in front of him, a grin plastered to his face.

 _Don't you, forget about me_

 _Don't don't don't don't!_

 _Don't you, forget about me_

Jesse grins back as he pulls out some faux-cool dance moves that involve a lot of pointing, fist pumps, and hip swings. He moves closer to Benji as he sings, his confidence only rising.

 _Will you stand above me?_

 _Look my way, never love me_

 _Rain keeps falling, rain keeps falling,_

 _Down, down, down_

 _Will you recognize me?_

 _Call my name or walk on by_

 _Rain keeps falling, rain keeps falling,_

 _Down, down, down, down_

 _Hey, hey, hey, hey!_

 _Ohhhhohhhhohhhohhhhwooooo_

Everyone always called this masterpiece of musical perfection "his and Beca's song," but that was never true. Yeah, she did serenade him with it in their set list for the 2012 ICCA's, but that was as an apology. It saved their relationship, which in turn saved the friendship they have now. Benji knows that this is Jesse's all time favorite song, and that it isn't associated with Beca - at least not like that, and that's what matters in this moment.

 _Don't you try to pretend_

 _It's my feeling we'll win in the end_

 _I won't harm you or touch your defenses_

 _Vanity and security_

 _Don't you forget about me!_

 _I'll be alone, dancing you know it baby_

 _Going to take you apart_

 _I'll put us back together at heart, baby!_

 _Don't you, forget about me_

 _Don't don't don't don't!_

 _Don't you, forget about me_

At this point, Jesse is on his knees in front of Benji, who seems to know what's happening, like he's been waiting for this since the day they met. Jesse knows he never expected this, but somehow this feels like something he knew would happen. It feels so right that he could swear it was deja vu. He can see it in Benji's eyes - the familiarity, the comfort. He sees in Benji's eyes, the way he sees Beca looking at Chloe, the way Chloe looks at Beca, and undoubtedly, the way he must look at Benji. Confidence surging, Jesse leaps back onto his feet to continue his crazy dance moves, knowing too well that Benji finds them adorable.

 _As you walk on by!_

 _Will you call my name?_

 _As you walk on by!_

 _Will you call my name?_

 _When you walk away_

 _Or will you walk away?_

 _Will you walk on by?_

 _Come on, call my name_

 _Will you call my name?_

Jesse begins to fake play the drums as Benji chuckles at him. He's pretty sure this is the greatest moment of his life. Beca's right. He really should write a movie about this.

 _I say :_

 _La...la la la la...la la la la...la la lal la la la la la la, la la_

 _When you walk on by, and you call my name_

"Jesse." Benji is beaming up at Jesse, whose grand finale involved him leaping onto the coffee table, fist raised in triumph. Jesse looks down at Benji, a dazed smile creeping onto his face as he takes in Benji. An adorable, awkward mess with his shirt tucked in to a pair of bright red pants and his fist raised to match Jesse's. His fingers slowly unfurl to become an offering to Jesse. Jesse takes his hand, jumps down from the coffee table, and gazes into Benji's eyes.

"Benji."

* * *

"Stacie, I'm not interested in talking to you about this."

"Obviously! If you wanted to talk, this wouldn't be a concern! Beca, this has been going on for an hour now. Talk or I'll punch myself in the eye and tell Aubrey it was you."

"That's stupid, she would never buy that-"

"Talk now or I'll get you so drunk that you'll overshare and forget it all the next morning."

"Okay, fine!" Beca caves. This whole situation sucks, and as much as she hates to admit it, moping about the Bellas house won't fix it. Stacie gives Beca a satisfied smirk as she sees Beca slowly lowering her walls. "But I'm not going into detail."

Stacie sighs, "Okay fine. I'll get all the dirty deets eventually."

Beca shoots her a pointed glare, but looks away when she sees pity in Stacie's eyes rather than her usual stone-cold-sarcasm. Beca's eyes still sting, and she's sure Stacie can tell. Knowing that it's just going to get worse, Beca decides to roll it all out, vomit out the events of her day, the crap from her mind, the emotions in her heart, just so that she won't be the only one acknowledging them anymore. "I'm in love with Chloe so Jesse and I broke up cause he's also gay for his best friend and I can't tell Chloe but I fucked up and told her that I was in love with Aubrey so she wouldn't know. And that's it."

"That's it?" Beca nods matter-of-factly. " _That's it_? Beca. Are you fucking kidding me?!"

"Ahh no. I'm actually n-"

"I'm going to call Aubrey, okay? Give her time to prepare for this shit storm. When Aubrey told me that you fucked up, I didn't imagine that it was this bad. God!" Beca cringes, watching Stacie explode. If Stacie is reacting this badly, she'd terrified for Aubrey to get here. "And Chloe believed you?" Beca nods. "Where is she now? Her room?" Beca nods again. Stacie groans at her, tossing her head back in frustration. "And _why_ couldn't you tell her? Give me a real answer."

"It's just… I don't want to inconvenience her. I don't want to burden her."

"So you told her you were in love with her best friend?" Beca's heart sinks. How could she not have realized? It was the easiest way to see the situation, but she had missed it. "Yeah, that's what I thought." Tears come back, but Beca forces them out. She avoids making eye contact with Stacie who is standing and moving towards the kitchen. "Beca, stay right there. I'm going to call Aubrey real quick, okay?"

"Yeah, okay." Beca hears Stacie's phone beeping as she punches in the numbers. She hears Stacie's groan about voicemail, she hears Stacie's voice talking into the phone with a "hey babe," she hears Stacie cough to cover it up, she hears Stacie mention her name, she hears Stacie mention Chloe's name, she hears Stacie dial again, she hears it all fade away slowly, and Beca isn't completely sure why until she's face to face with a door - Chloe's door. She hears knocking at the door, she hears muffled sobs from the other side, she hears the door creak open, and then she hears nothing as if her hearing has given out.

The sight of Chloe in front of her, crumbled on the bed in the fetal position, shoulders shaking is more than enough to make Beca feel broken and awful for putting Chloe in this state. Beca likes to think she usually has a nice self-esteem, but in this moment, she can't help but hate herself.

She can hear Aubrey's words playing in her head telling her to avoid Chloe for now, to not make things worse, to not talk to Chloe, but she can't see how anything could get worse. She has to fix this. She has to fix Chloe.

A moment later, Beca is next to Chloe. She hadn't meant to be, but her body gravitated towards the beautiful redhead on its own. She wonders if it's the universe or if she's just going mad. Beca is sitting next to Chloe on the bed, moving her hand to Chloe's back, making imaginary strokes in the air before making contact as though her mind is forcing her to learn to be soft. Her hand grazes the fabric settled over Chloe's spine, and she's about to let her fingers touch when she speaks, "Beca?"

Beca freezes her hand where it is, hovering over the small of Chloe's back. Chloe's voice sounds hollow but small, soft as it said Beca's name, though maybe that was out of habit. Beca's name always sounded soft when Chloe said it, even when she was upset, even when she was angry. Beca can't fixate on an emotion in Chloe's voice, so she isn't sure what to expect. She just know she needs to fix this. "Yeah, it's me."

Chloe rolls over to face Beca, her eyes red and puffy. Beca imagines that they sting like hers do, only worse, and she wants it to stop. Beca's done a lot of bad things in her life: she stole a toy race car when she was six from a boy in her class, she told her dad she hated him as a teenager, she insulted the Bellas that Aubrey had worked so hard for, but making Chloe Beale cry is without a doubt the worst. For a moment, Beca wonders what will happen if she can't fix this, but she shakes the thought from her mind. All she has to do is explain. She's in love with Aubrey? No one would really buy that, even if it were true. The way Beca sees it, her odds look pretty okay, or at least that's what she keeps trying to tell herself. The broke Chloe in front of her tells another story.

So Beca moves her hand so that it rests on Chloe's. She pauses a moment, counts to three before she intertwines their fingers. She counts to three again before smiling softly at Chloe, hoping for a reaction but only getting a blank stare. Beca isn't sure how long they sit like this, but after nothing has changed and Beca feels confident in the amount of times she's been counting to three, she decides she should speak. "Chloe. I want to fix this. Okay?" Chloe looks down at their hands, Becas thumb stroking hers in smooth, consistent circles, and looks back up, slowly nodding her head. Beca sighs, relieved, "You're my best friend. I tell you everything. But there's something I'm afraid to talk to you about because I'm afraid of upsetting you - of losing you - but I messed up. I want to try again, if you'll let me explain." Beca knows Chloe will listen. She knows that this time, she won't chicken out. Chloe deserves to know the truth, and Chloe deserves an honest Beca. _Chloe, I love you. Chloe, I love you. Chloe, I love you. Just fucking say it. Chloe, I love you. Chloe, I love you._ "Chloe, I lo-"

"Beca, really?!"

Startled, Beca swings her head around, only to find Aubrey, arms crossed, head shaking in disappointment, the slightest hint of an I-told-you-so smirk on her face because she knew that Beca would try to talk to Chloe. "Aubrey," Beca whispers, her voice sounding just as broken and miniscule now as it did earlier on the phone.

"Shit! Aubrey?!" She hears Stacie faintly yell from the kitchen.

"Aubrey." Beca says it again, this time more sure, more solid, as she begins to put together the pieces of this interaction, coming to the conclusion only when she hears a voice from behind her, flaring and bold.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me."

"Chloe."

* * *

 **2nd A/N: GUYS! I am so sorry to make it more angsty (I'm really not), but don't hate me ;)  
**

 **AppleSwan shippers, let me know how I did? I've never written them before, so I hope you enjoyed it. There will be more of them.**

 **And what do you guys think about getting some Chloe POV next chapter? I think we're all ready to see what's going on in that cute little ginger head of hers.**

 **Let me know what you guys thought and what you want to see happen? :) via review, PM, or a message to my tumblr (mitcheale or floppywerewolfeskimo) I love you guys.**


	5. The Scheming

**A/N: This should have been updated sooner for you guys and I am so sorry it wasn't! Blame ff ;) anyway, here it is. Chapter five. You shouldn't hate me by the end of this one, though if you do, let me know cause hearing from you guys makes me so happy (even when you yell at me!) Heads up, there will probably only be two more chapters after this one. Enjoy!**

* * *

"Chloe." Beca's voice comes out cracked, like shards of glass left abandoned in the road after a street fight. Before turning to look at Chloe, she watches Aubrey's face plummet. She clearly hasn't been filled in, but she knows that she's just made matters worse.

"I'm just gonna…" Motioning awkwardly towards the door, Aubrey steps out of the room briskly, and Beca can hear her moving down the stairs, and she's jealous that Aubrey has escaped from whatever's about to happen. Beca turns to look at Chloe, her features animated, wild and on fire. She wouldn't be shocked if smoke started drifting from her ears. Her gaze is on Beca, and she can see frustrated anger lighting up her eyes. "Chloe," she says again, as her eyes begin to water. This situation is so out of hand, so ridiculous, and so seemingly impossible to fix. "Chloe, I-"

"No."

Beca blinks, surprised. "No... what?"

"We talk, when I say we talk. Got it?" Beca tries to speak again before Chloe interrupts her, continuing. "You've been acting weird all day. Making Ashley stop the bus, avoiding me the whole trip back here, accidentally sitting on Emily, "guessing" that you broke up with Jesse, telling me you're in love with Aubrey? _Fucking_ Aubrey, Beca. I'm not saying you're full of shit or anything, but _you're lucky you're that pretty_!"

Lost for words, Beca gapes at Chloe. "Uhhh, do you really think that, or… are you just mocking me?"

Beca watches as Chloe looks to the ground, her jaw slack, mouth slightly agape and scoffs. It seems like Chloe is almost shocked that she said anything, that she yelled at Beca, or that Beca had the audacity to speak back, but whatever she may have been thinking fades as her open mouth slowly becomes a smirk, and she stares Beca down. "You know what? I don't have to answer that."

The blank stare on Beca's face is unwavering. Chloe is still angry. There's only been one other time she's seen Chloe go from fuming-angry to smiley-angry, and that was directed at Fat Amy regarding an incident about Bellas practice, Bumper, and the kitchen of the Bellas house, and Beca did _not_ stick around for that. "Umm, yeah. So, I'm just gonna leave you alone for a minute while I see what Aubrey's doing here?" she says as she inches towards the door.

"Yeah, Beca. You do that." Chloe stands, moving towards her, and the way she crinkles her nose while she speaks in an almost robotic voice, full of fake cheer, makes Beca want to shudder. "We'll talk soon, k?" Nodding, Beca slips out the door, hearing Chloe slam it behind her, and runs downstairs to the living room.

The minute she sees Aubrey, she pokes her in the arm, hard, knowing that if she slaps her, she'll get slapped back twice as hard. "What the _actual fuck_ , Aubrey?! Bad timing much?"

Aubrey turns around to look at Beca frantically, "Oh my god, Beca! It was my fault. _My_ fault! I am so so sorry. I had no idea. Stacie _just_ filled me in-"

"Beca, I am so sorry too. It went to voicemail when I called her. I didn't even know she was here until I heard what was going down upstairs." The guilt in both of their faces is clear, but Beca groans at them anyways.

"How could you guys let this happen?" Beca crashes onto the couch, burying her face in her hands. When no one answers, Beca falls back into the cushions hopelessly and whines, "How am I gonna fix this? Chloe is so mad at me."

"Well you kind of deserv-"

"Shut it, Aubrey. Obviously. I'm such an idiot!" Beca stands and paces around the room. "'I'm in love with Aubrey?' ' _I'm in love with Aubrey_?!' What is wrong with me! Who the hell would say that?!"

"Hey!" Stacie and Aubrey say in unison, making Beca stop.

"Dude, you guys are so together."

"Not the point, Beca. You need to fix this, remember? Then maybe we can go on a double date," Stacie said with a wink, earning a light smack from Aubrey. "Sorry! Okay, Mitchell. What's the plan?"

Beca sighs, falling into thought. She needs to do something huge, but what? She's never been good at these things, and she doubts she will be now, of all times. Unless… She pulls out her phone and begins typing. "Guys, don't worry. I have an idea."

* * *

Jesse and Benji have been staring at each other for at least thirty seconds now. Time feels like it's been running in slow motion. "Jesse," Benji says again,

"Benji," Jesse whispers again, as he moves his hand to Benji's face. Running it through his hair, he stops when his hand reaches the base of Benji's head, the top of his neck. He squeezes ever so slightly, his thumb running through Benji's curls, his eyes flickering to Benji's lips, his focus wavering as he glances back to Benji's eyes, not uncertain but hesitant, like he wants this moment to meet any and all expectations the two men have.

The drumroll. The moment that builds to the kiss. Jesse loves the drumroll. He admits to being slightly intentional during moments like these, building the hype and the anticipation he admires so much in movies, until he finds the perfect moment. He can hear the music in his head, or in his heart, he isn't sure which, and he knows the moment it crashes or explodes into something magical. The music scoring his life, coming from inside, leads him through fear, through humor, through romance, and that's just what it does now.

Benji squirms in the drumroll, swallows hard, glances from one corner of Jesse's lips to the other but falls in the center, repeats the action as Jesse parts his own lips slightly, breathing shallow and whole at the same time with his eyes latched onto Benji's lips as he watches his tongue glide over them to wet them instinctually. Benji squirms in the drumroll, and Jesse knows he's doing it right.

Their kiss becomes essential and greedy before it even begins, and Benji's hands move to Jesse's hips to his arms that reach to cup Benji's face to his hips again, unsure of where they should begin and unsure of where they will end. Benji can only readjust so many times before caving, and Jesse waits for that moment when Benji's eyes shift to Jesse's, that moment right before Benji goes for it himself, that moment when all the strings snap. Jesse finds that moment and takes it, meeting his lips to Benji's as they meet halfway, desperate to meet the other.

The desperation quickly becomes satisfaction the moment their lips meet, and Jesse is more than fine with a simple one shot kiss, but Benji runs his hands through Jesse's hair and down his back, pulling Jesse closer into him and dizziness takes him over, leaving Jesse nipping at Benji's bottom lip, tugging on it softly, fighting for the sensation of Benji in his mouth, on his lips, against his chest, against his thighs - the sensation of Benji everywhere. Their lips continue to melt against each other, their tongues begin to waltz together, and their hands begin a preliminary exploration of soft skin on soft skin, until the heat becomes too much and they pull apart slowly.

Jesse is the first to speak. "Wow." Benji just grins in response as his ears turn red. "That was…"

"Magical?" Benji suggests.

"Yeah Benj. That was magical." For a while they swim through each other's eyes caught in the moment. Jesse thinks about how cliche it is, minus the gay thing, but feels the truth in it, and accepts it, knowing that sometimes good movies have to be cliche. The moment snaps apart when Benji speaks again.

"Oh my god! Beca!"

Jesse smiles at Benji's concern, "it's okay. We broke up earlier today. We're both interested in different people."

"Oh. Oh! You mean me, right?"

"Of course, you dork," Jesse says as he sinks his lips onto Benji's once more, lingering before he pulls back slowly. He loves watching the blush creep across Benji's face. "Actually, I've been meaning to talk to Beca. See how she's doing, if she's gotten anywhere. I know I have," Jesse says with a wink as he grabs ahold of Benji's hand. "I'll probably text her in a bit."

"Why don't we just go see her? Maybe she can some with us when we go out tonight."

"We're going out tonight? Well look who's a smooth talker!" Jesse is obsessed with this new character development until Benji reminds him.

"Uh, Jesse, remember? Bumper and the guys invited us to this club they're trying to start up called Double The Treble. We said we'd go."

"Oh, right," Jesse remarks, giving Benji's hand a light squeeze. "And here I was just thinking you were being smooth!"

Benji chuckles, "I wish, but no."

Their giggle-fest is interrupted by the buzzing of Jesse's phone. Pulling it out, he reads the message before commenting, "Looks like someone needs help with her gay."

* * *

Sitting on her bed, arms and legs crossed, glaring at the wall, Chloe is fuming. _What the_ fuck _is Aubrey doing here? How can this even be happening? We literally saw her this morning, spent the whole weekend with her, and nothing seemed weird until we were on the bus back. There's no way Beca can be serious about this!_ Chloe grabs the framed picture of Beca and her that's next to her bed. It was taken at last year's ICCAs - Beca's arm around Chloe as she grins at her, Chloe grinning back, the shot taken as Beca's eyes began trailing slightly downward. It is Chloe's favorite picture of them, and everyone but Beca knows why.

Chloe remembers the moment clearly - Beca's eyes lingering on Chloe's lips until she was bumped forward by Flo and sent crashing into Chloe, her eyes forced to look away, but returning to Chloe's eyes as she caught her - kept her from falling. Chloe remembers how lost Beca looked as they locked eyes, how background noise became even less important, how Chloe leaned more towards Beca and Beca reacted by leaning more towards Chloe, how Beca didn't pull away even when Fat Amy screamed ecstatically into her ear or when Jesse ran up from backstage to congratulate them, how she all but pulled away with a shake of her head when her eyes had become foggy and her breath had paused for a moment too long. She remembered how Beca had moved immediately to hug Jesse as though she needed to convince herself that the moment hadn't been real even though Chloe could see the panic in her eyes.

The same panic Chloe saw when Beca had said she was in love with Aubrey.

 _Oh._

And suddenly, Chloe is more angry at herself than at Beca. Sure, Beca was ridiculous and infuriating and aloof all day, but Chloe was the one who bought onto any of it. ' _I'm in love with Aubrey?' Who would believe that?_ It seems so obvious now that Beca was lying, that she was spewing total bullshit. It was such a sorry excuse for whatever Beca refused to talk to her about, which, by the way, Chloe still didn't know. How does she expect Beca to help her if she won't talk to her about anything? Chloe may be her best friend, but that doesn't give her the power to read minds.

Looking back on the weekend, Chloe can't understand what happened. She and Beca have been getting closer, and even though Beca was still with Jesse (until this morning that is) and even though Beca is a master at giving mixed signals, Chloe was so sure they were getting somewhere. Beca had dismissed her experimentation proposal but had played with Chloe's hair that night when she thought she was asleep. They had fought about Beca's internship but had shared a moment at the campfire. Beca had snapped at Chloe that morning about not enough sleep and not enough coffee but she had smiled at Chloe like a kid on Christmas when she snuck some more from Aubrey's secret coffee stash. Everything was fine.

When Beca had her meltdown on the bus, Chloe had been asleep. Or, mostly asleep anyways. Chloe closes her eyes, trying to pull back as many details as she can from her half-asleep state earlier that day. The bus was on a relatively smooth road, but she remembers when it hit any bumps, she would sink a bit more into Beca's shoulder. She picked up her legs, knees resting on Beca's lap as she had her feet swung to the side. She remembers Beca texting, or maybe playing a game on her phone, being so careful not to move so she wouldn't wake Chloe. She remembers Beca's hand drifting to Chloe's lower thigh every so often, giving it a little pat. She remembers Stacie singing. She remembers nearly falling to the floor as Beca lept up from her seat. She remembers following Beca off the bus slowly, worried that this was something she should avoid. She remembers not caring if Beca wanted to be alone or not. She remembers stroking Beca's back, her breathing slowing as she did so. She remembers Beca looking at her, terrified, and telling her that she was screwed. She remembers not quite understanding.

Again. She remembers the nap and Beca's neck and Beca's hand on her leg. She remembers feeling secure next to Beca. She remembers dozing off and coming back again. She remembers the feel of Beca's pulse as she leaned closer into her. She remembers music. She remembers-

" _-how to brave, how can i love_

 _when I'm afraid to fall,_

 _but watching you stand alone,_

 _all of my doubt suddenly goes away somehow,_

 _one step closer -"_

She remembers.

Stacie sang. Beca connected. Beca panicked. Beca ran. Chloe followed. Beca ran again.

She had thrown up all her defenses just when Chloe thought they had fallen down. It all was starting to make sense. Beca's feelings had been instinctual, but that weekend mixed with those lyrics must have made Beca think just a bit too hard about it all, and she snapped, finally realizing. Even though Chloe had no confirmation or any solid evidence that Beca returned the feelings Chloe had for her, she knew that it couldn't be anything else. How could it? Mix that with Beca slipping up about Jesse and Benji, a best friend couple in love, and her being in a similar situation? Mix that with her cracking under pressure and throwing Aubrey's name out there so she wouldn't confess to Chloe? That's what it has to be! Chloe catches herself squealing before it gets too out of hand. She's spinning around the room, but stops when she remembers how miserable she was earlier.

She had gotten so upset when she had believed it, and _that_ was more Beca's fault than her own, right? Believing that Beca and Aubrey could be a real thing is idiotic, but it had ripped her apart inside, and Beca had let it happen. And even after that, Beca refused to give Chloe time to sort it all out? No. Why should Chloe be the only one to suffer from Beca's silly little mistake?

Suddenly, Chloe has an idea. Beca has intentionally (sort of) made her day insane, distracted her from her homework, from the Bellas, even from eating; she always distracts Chloe unintentionally, she always pulls away right when she starts letting Chloe in, she always expects Chloe to be silent but let's herself speak and mess everything up. Quite honestly, Chloe has had enough. It's high time that Beca is the one who's distracted, made to be miserable for a while, and Chloe is determined to make that happen. She grins maliciously as she pulls out her phone. She still needs answers. She still needs a plan. She needs someone to scheme with. So she texts Jesse: ' _Jesse. I need your help. Campus coffee shop, 30 minutes_.'

With a satisfied smirk, Chloe opens her door and makes her way downstairs, hearing silence fall as the top stair creaks beneath her feet. She enters the living room to see Beca frozen mid-stride, Aubrey next to her, one arm across her chest, the other supporting her head as she stares at the floor uncomfortably, and Stacie sitting on the sofa, suddenly fascinated in her perfect cuticles. Chloe has a good fifteen minutes before she has to leave and make it to the coffee shop on time. She knows how she wants to play this.

Crossing her arms, Chloe makes a point to glare just enough that it's clear she's angry, but not so much that she doesn't still look upset. Beca flashes her a look wrought with guilt as she quickly looks anywhere else, and Chloe knows she's got this. "Hey, Stacie. Hey… Mitchsen." Chloe stumbles out the name, hoping that it doesn't sound too ridiculous. ('Aubeca' and 'Becbrey' just wouldn't have cut it.)

Stacie's jaw drops as she looks at Chloe in surprise, while Aubrey and Beca share an awkward glance before Beca resumes her staring contest with the floor and Aubrey looks at Chloe desperate for eye contact. "Chloe, I-"

"Aubrey, stop. This isn't about you."

"Okayyy," Aubrey mouths before she and Beca switch stances.

"Chloe?" Beca asks tentatively. "Can we talk?"

"Hmm. With or without your _girlfriend_?" Beca's squirming is enough to make Chloe want to call off the whole mess-with-Beca plan and just scoop her up and cuddle her on the spot, but she doesn't. She's too stubborn to just let Beca get away with her mistake.

"N-no. Chloe, _no_. We're not… I mean, Aubrey's not- ugh, oh my god, just no. Aubrey and I, we're not-"

"You're not... what? Dating?" Chloe asks as innocently as she can, watching as Beca's face brightens slightly at the idea that maybe she can fix this problem easy. She could though, and that makes Chloe feel guiltier, but she knows Beca will forgive her later. After all, she kind of deserves it for going to such ridiculous lengths to avoid telling Chloe how she feels, especially when it's already staring everybody in the face.

"Yeah! Dating. We're not dating," Beca says wirth a breath of relief. Attempting a laugh, she adds, "gross" unsuccessfully as Aubrey "Beca!'s" at her in offense.

"Oh." Chloe pauses, "considering" as she let's Beca have some hope for a few more seconds. She feels so awful right now, and she hates it, but lets it fuel her mock anger and the mock venomous voice that comes out with it. "So you're just fucking then?" Her voice sounds more high-pitched than she intended, but she got the reaction that she wanted.

"What?!" Aubrey screeches as Beca sputters looking completely disturbed and opening and closing her mouth trying to speak but failing so hard. "Chloe, you have to believe us, we-"

"Wanted to keep it a secret? Used your clashing personalities as a cover? Well good job. It worked. I had no idea! And from the looks of it, Stacie had no idea either, even though I'm surprised no one ever figured it out.I can't imagine your sex being anything but loud since all you do is fight for control over each other!"

"Wow." Stacie comments to herself. "Maybe I should-"

"No." Aubrey suddenly snaps at her. "You have to stay."

Chloe looks from Stacie to Aubrey. "Oh. You guys too? What, am I the only one around here _not_ dating someone in this room?" Beca opens her mouth to protest. "Oh, no, I'm sorry, fucking. You're not dating. Forgive me."

"Chloe!" Beca whines in frustration, "Let us explain! Please!"

Chloe snorts. She's running out of stamina, she has to meet Jesse in five minutes, and she has just enough one liners to get her out the door. "Explain what? Why you and Aubrey are fucking? Or why you're acting like a crazy person? Cause you are doing a good impersonation of Britney Spears, the crazy years, and I'm considering getting you admitted." Beca opens her mouth to speak, but Chloe doesn't let her. "No, Beca. I'm not finished. Has the cardio finally melted your brain? Did the Lodge of Fallen Leaves fall on your head? Or did Amy's butt confidence backfire and create a monster? Something is obviously going on, and I don't care what Aubrey has to do with it. If you decide you finally wanna talk, you know my number." Chloe gives Beca a snarky glare before grabbing her bag and strutting out the door, slamming it behind her. That went well.

* * *

By the time Chloe gets to the coffee shop, Jesse is already there waiting for her, with a big grin on his face. "Sooooo," he begins in a sing-song voice, "How's Beca? Has she told you yet?"

Chloe opens her mouth, confused. She knew this was coming, but Jesse's level of giddiness has her stomach in knots. "Told me what?" she asks, hoping that the answer she wants is the answer she'll be given.

"Uh, that she's in love with you, obviously. What, she hasn't said it yet? Dammit. She's going to kill me."

Chloe beams. _Well, that answers that question._

* * *

 **A/N: Soooooo, what'd'ya think? I hope you liked it. As always, tell me what you think! Review here or leave me a message on tumblr (floppywerewolfeskimo or mitcheale). I love you awesome nerds!  
**

 **A huge shoutout to Awesam for helping me with this chapter! And also a big thank you to fellow writers Awesam (again), everyonelovesagoodBhloe and Luke923HA for helping me come up with some of Chloe's snarky one-liners! (also go read their awesome fics!)**

 **Question: which Chloe is your favorite Chloe? a) angry Chloe b) scheming Chloe c) snarky Chloe**


	6. The Act

By the time Chloe gets to the coffee shop, Jesse is already there waiting for her, with a big grin on his face. "Sooooo," he begins in a sing-song voice. "How's Beca? Has she told you yet?"

Chloe opens her mouth, confused. She knew this was coming, but Jesse's level of giddiness has her stomach in knots. "Told me what?" she asks, hoping that the answer she wants is the answer she'll be given.

"Uh, that she's in love with you obviously. What, she hasn't said it yet? Dammit. She's going to kill me."

Chloe beams. _Well, that answers that question_.

Jess's face goes into absolute panic as he realizes what he's done (or what he _thinks_ he's done), and Chloe just smiles at him, waiting for him to realize. It only takes a minute, but soon he's looking at her suspiciously. "Wait. You already know, don't you?"

Chloe grins mischievously, not even a little bit sorry for tricking him (kind of). "Welllllll, let's go with yes and no. She hasn't said anything to me, you were right about that. Which means I technically didn't know, but I suspected." Jesse raised an eyebrow. "There's a reason I wanted to meet up, and it's not to congratulate each other or gain your blessing."

Jesse looks at Chloe and she can tell he is incredibly confused. "Okay, first of all, you don't need my permission. Second of all, can you please explain what is going on?" Chloe sighs. She isn't worried about a lot, but if anything, it was Jesse's participation in this scenario. She starts explaining everything. How Beca is always the one confusing her and leaving her hanging and making her feel distracted and letting Chloe forgive her no questions asked, but never the other way around. Jesse nods along the whole time. "Uh-huh, so Beca didn't talk to you at all after lunch with me?"

"No!" Chloe announced, exasperated. "She said she was in love with Aubrey!" Chloe scoffed. "I mean, I know Beca is a terrible liar, but really? After she told me about your breakup and how "similar" your best friend situation is? Yeah, right."

Jesse looks at her, obviously feeling moved by whatever perfect movie-moment-music he hears in his head. "So what happened next? Did you believe her?"

Groaning more to herself than to Jesse, she launches into the everythings story she forgot to tell Jesse, starting with, "Yes I believed her! I was so stupid!" and ending with, "I'm definitely in love with her."

Jesse looks at her, dumbfounded for some reason, like he can't already see it in Chloe's eyes. "Alright, so you love Beca, but she thinks that you think she loves Aubrey, Aubrey is probably dating Stacie, Aubrey is at the Bellas' house, and Beca thinks you're mad at her?"

"Exactly, but with one little correction. Stacie and Aubrey are definitely dating." Chloe rolls her eyes at Jesse's loud "I KNEW IT!" before continuing. It's important that Beca thinks I'm mad at her. It's a distraction. Something to make her have a taste of what she's put me through today."

Jesse half-grins, like he isn't sure he should be. "So where do I come in?

* * *

A half-hour after Chloe stormed out, there's a knock at the door. Even though Stacie is already up and looking through the peephole, Beca groans, "I can't deal with anymore drama. Can someone else get it?"

She hears the door open and peeks one eye open, completely losing her sneaky composure the minute she sees Jesse and hears Stacie's surprisingly meek "actually I think it's for you."

"Jesse!" He jumps to attention, double-gunning it with his fingers right at her.

"Beca, hey!"

She interrupts before he could continue. "What do you want? What are you doing here?" She lets out a groan that probably makes the book of world records. "I do not need this right now, man! I've kind of got a lot going on!"

He rolls his eyes in an attempt to be nonchalant, succeeding in his own eyes, but doing far more than failing in Beca's. "Yeaahhhh. I heard."

Beca was on her feet faster than their audience after catching a glimpse of Fat Amy's crotch. "What? You heard? What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"Ah, I might have run into Chloe just a little while ago."

Beca's hand meets her forehead immediately. This cannot be happening. And she told Jesse she was going to talk to Chloe! She prays to the aca-gods (or whatever deity it is that Chloe prays to before a competition) that Jesse didn't say a single word to her. No doubt he messed this up more than it already was. Damn movie buff always attracting drama. She glares at him. "And?"

"And I gave her a great big congratulatory hug and said we all needed to go on a double date." Jesse shrugs, a grin on his face. "Isn't that a great idea, Beca? Oh, maybe a triple date. Can't leave out that beautiful couple over there." Jesse winks as he made a grandiose point in the direction of Stacie and Aubrey on the couch, no longer trying to hide their relationship but hide from the situation. They huddle together on the couch as if willing themselves to disappear. Needless to say it doesn't work.

"Great idea?! Jesse! Do you have any idea how much shit I'm in with Chloe right now?!" And as if on cue, the door swings open to reveal a fiery, red-hot (and not necessarily in the good way) Chloe.

She storms into the room, looking at Jesse, a look of total frustration and bewilderment spreading across her face. "Beca? I thought you broke up? What's he doing here? Am I _once again_ the only person in here not fucking everyone else?" To Chloe's surprise, Beca just loses it, looking like she is half sobbing, half stoic, and just darts out the door. She looks at Jesse concerned, and she agrees with the look he gives her. Maybe they went too far.

* * *

A/N: that was short, and I'm sorry, but I left you guys hanging for too long. I had to post something. I'm currently working on another fic from my AO3 account, so if any of you ship Swan Queen, find me over there gaypanic, or on tumblr swenswanswoon. Hope this was okay, and I'll have the next chapter up hopefully soon. I'm thinking two more chapters on this one


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